Making Enemies
by KiahTrickster
Summary: The Sixers left some time before the tenth pilgrimage arrived, they had to learn to survive in the wild and they had a special dislike for Terra Nova's second in command. Given their history Lieutenant Alicia Washington doesn't have much sympathy for them. One shot. Repost.


_The Sixers left some time before the tenth pilgrimage arrived, they had to learn to survive in the wild and they had a special dislike for Terra Nova's second in command. Given their history Lieutenant Alicia Washington doesn't have much sympathy for them. One shot._

 _ **Disclaimer: No copy right infringement intended, I write for fun not profit.**_

 _ **Making Enemies**_

Early morning light was filtering through the canopy, feeling slightly dazed Alicia rubbed her temple; her memory unclear. The last thing she remembered was being on the convoy; it had been evening. When her fingers encountered something crusty, she pressed on the spot and pain exploded in her skull.

Her fingers came away with a little blood, Alicia struggled to focus, taking deep breaths; she had found a reason for the lost time. Reaching for her thigh holster she found it empty, her weapon gone. Pushing herself up to sit she took in her surroundings.

It took a moment to clear her mind and orient herself, the ground around her was a rocky slope. Looking up Alicia could pick out the path she had taken down to where she sat. The pain in her body made sense, but the missing convoy didn't; her unit wouldn't leave her behind. They were heading out to deliver supplies to a scientific out post, there was no urgency and no more threat then any other trip OTG.

It was the lack of weapon that concerned her, the strap on the holster would have prevented it from falling out. No one would have taken the weapon from her, they had their own. But she could only come up with one explanation, and she didn't like it. They'd had issues lately within the ranks, Taylor had made a disturbing discovery of weapons and they had been confiscated they had both agreed there were likely more. Sliding a hand into her boot she felt a little relief; her knife was there.

And while the combat knife was a reassurance it wasn't much against some of the predators that called this land home. Stilling for a moment she tried sort out her options, she was lucky to have survived the night out here; and very lucky that her bleeding had stopped. Blood out here would attract predators, it was not something she needed to do.

As she moved she realized her body armor was gone as well, her only chance for surviving was to get moving; to get back to the colony. By her math she was a good day's hike from the colony, they had left at noon, the last check in Alicia remembered was four o'clock. Getting to her feet slowly, she took stock of where pain flared. Her neck throbbed but as she took stock of herself she found other injuries.

She climbed to the top of the hill, her eyes searching the ground she worried what she would find. Tracks showed where the convoy had passed, she could see where her body impacted; but no signs that the rovers had stopped. She had been in the lead with Mira and two other soldiers, that realization was not pleasant; the base of her skull was the source of the pain.

Alicia Washington was not a foolish woman and had spent most of her life being trained to survive, she was at home in this jungle more than most; but she was aware of the dangers from predators and now men. Forcing herself to move she looked to the sun and her surroundings before setting off in the direction of the colony.

No weapon, no body armor and no communicator Alicia knew she wasn't expected to live. To bad she wasn't planning to die today, not if she could fight. She stayed off the track, not willing to be easy to find, but she wasn't going to forfeit the clear route until she had to.

Before long she realized she wasn't alone, the whine of an engine made her hesitate, the day before she would have felt safe; now she looked for cover. Finding a tree that she could climb into Alicia pulled herself up; her body protesting.

Still it was cover and none to soon, the engine died and voices filtered up to her. "If she survived she won't get far." A familiar voice, a man from Guzman's unit she'd had little to deal with as of yet.

"Carter if you had done a proper stock of the convoy we would have cleared out like planned; we need ammo. And all we've got to trade is her." Mira's voice, they were closer now. "We need to deal with this and get over to the meeting point; the others will be waiting."

"Something could have dragged her off." Leaning around the tree she saw four of them walking down the middle of the track.

"Taylor will trade for a body, he's served with her for years. Only family he's got is the soldiers, she's the closest thing that old prude will ever get to a friend." The bitterness in the woman's voice surprised Alicia; but somehow she didn't doubt her.

She stayed high until they were well past, heading deeper into the jungle to avoid their search; the race was on. Dense foliage and uneven ground made the trek difficult, the fact her knee threatened to give out more than once worried her. Right now time was her only friend, getting back to the colony quickly was her only hope for safety.

Until then she was truly alone, if Taylor was convinced she was dead and traded ammunition for her body or location it put the colony in jeopardy. Alicia wanted to believe he wouldn't, but after everything that had happened she didn't trust that. She didn't know what the game was now, if she was in a little better shape she would hang close and try to eaves drop their conversation; but she didn't trust her ability to make a quick exit.

The day passed quickly and dusk had her searching for a place to hide, it was too dangerous to travel by night. Even in the best of circumstances it was avoided except when truly necessary. The only good part of the time period was even at night it remained warm, she wouldn't have to worry about freezing tonight.

It was a long night to pass in a tree, she had jumped at too many noises to get anything close to rest; and her limbs had stiffened in the tight position. She hoped that her hunters were far ahead now, eventually they would turn back; she wanted to be close to the colony when they did.

If all went well she could be back to the colony by dusk tonight; she did not want to spend another night out here. Alicia knew she needed to find food and water soon, watching ask she travelled; her knee was worse this morning. Yet she didn't risk cutting open her cargo pants to see the damage, right now she wasn't bleeding; fresh blood would attract predators. As long as she could keep going she would.

Eyeing the sun she figured it was about noon when she passed the water fall, she was only a few hours from the colony now. If she pushed hard she could make it, and do it before Mira and Carter got a chance to trick her CO. Thinking of them irritated her, Terra Nova was a good place to live; it was a second chance.

This was their chance to change the future, to build a world that would survive and teach the next generation how to preserve it; the children of Terra Nova would never know the wasteland their parents left behind. Why would they want to leave? She couldn't see what they would gain by being out in the jungle on their own.

Here the rules of history applied, there was safety in numbers and strength in the strong hold. It was a huge risk to come here, but they had and they had built a colony to start over. To leave it was foolish in her mind, unless they had other reasons.

She had known enough of war, politics and greed to know there were always other reasons. It was probably naïve to believe they wouldn't follow human kind here. Alicia just didn't like to see it, maybe she was tired of war or foolishly clinging to hope but she hadn't put blood, sweat and tears into this to see it fall away.

A noise behind her pulled her from the questions running through her head. She crouched by the roots of a huge tree, she could feel her pulse pounding, she wasn't one to be easily scared; the military had trained that out of her. But she had never been able to escape the pounding feeling in her chest when her adrenaline was up.

As a recruit she had learned to manage it by counting, by allowing the fact she was alive to calm her; she did the same now. Listening she heard voices again, different ones.

"They were supposed to be here hours ago, something is wrong."

"Just take it easy, this wasn't exactly the plan. We'll wait for Mira; she'll come." Something new Alicia thought; they looked to Mira for leadership.

Stealing her nerves she eased around the tree to get a look at who was talking; the voices were not familiar. She didn't really recognize the people, at least not to know their names; it looked like most of the last pilgrimage. Either way if Mira was heading here she didn't want to hang around.

A crashing behind her made Alicia duck back under the roots for cover. From the safety of her hideout Alicia watched a slasher tear into the clearing, sounds of pain and panic following. Slashers were mostly nocturnal, it must have been resting near by, engines powered up and she closed her eyes for a moment; the dead and wounded left for the dinosaur's meal.

Hating herself for a moment Alicia is unable to leave; she needs to look. Her knife will be of little use against a slasher. She moves slowly at first, checking that the vehicles have cleared out. She doesn't look too closely at the body the slasher is making a meal of. Four bodies are splayed in the clearing, the sickening call the slasher makes to bring its friends; it wouldn't hesitate to add her to that meal.

The animal lifted its bloody head and paused, she froze as it listened, and still in the cover of the jungle she didn't count it much protection. The creature wasn't looking her way, she scanned the area just as it did; and saw the movement.

It turned and she snarled under her breath, it was a kid; those fools had left a child behind. The little girl shrunk back against the tree, staring at the creature stalking towards her. She was in no shape to drag a child through the brush with her, and she couldn't imagine the girl's disappearance would be unnoticed for long; it would still be too late.

There was no choice, one hand clamped on the blade the other scooped up a rock; she heaved it away as she made her move. The creature so intent on its hunt turned away and scrambled towards the noise, she hardly waited for it to move and felt a stinging pain as their path's crossed. Alicia stumbled across the clearing; dragging the girl with her away from the bloody clearing. They heard a sickening sound, one of the injured must have crawled in the direction she heaved her rock.

She didn't go far, the next spot she found they took cover, crawling into the mud and leaves near a hollow log. It wasn't much, but it was better than the open clearing; and with an easy meal the creature might not follow.

The little girl's small frame pressed against hers Alicia waited for a few moments before pulling herself out of the muck; tucking her knife into her belt. Thankfully the creatures were not between them and the colony; it was only a couple more clicks of bushwhacking. And that was going to be as much as she could handle.

When she held out a hand to the child the girl began to whimper and sunk deeper into the hiding spot.

"Hush." Alicia's voice was hardly a whisper. "You can't stay here."

"You'll feed me to the slasher!"

The child's response made her pull back, did the girl know how she sounded. "That was a slasher, did I feed you to it? It isn't safe here, you have to come."

And this was wasting time, time she didn't want to spare. The girl seemed to consider her words, and the prospect of being left out here alone; finally she crawled out from under the log. A small hand took hers and Alicia stared, did the child think this would be like a walk in the park?

Either way they needed to move, she had wasted too much time. She struggled on, not willing to consider another night out here; not sure she could keep herself alive let alone a child. Her knee was getting worse and the throbbing in her neck a distraction she didn't need.

Alicia Washington could run a couple clicks as a warm up, she could run it with a pack without it being a push. Today she couldn't, it was early evening as they made it to edge of the jungle and a dangerous run. They had established the colony perimeter by cutting back the jungle, some areas for crops, roads and drainage.

In other spots the jungle encroached but the perimeter remained, near the main road the open area was the biggest. She was just to the right of the main road, it was not the best spot to cross; especially not with light fading. If she could trust that the spotters in the towers would recognize her, would open the gates for her it would be safe; right now that would be foolhardy.

They had no way to know if she was alive or dead, no way to know if her loyalties lay with the colony or not. If positions were reversed she would ream any soldier who opened that gate. She could sneak in, but that would also be suspicious. It wouldn't be long before the spotters picked up the heat signature anyways.

"Just a little farther." She encouraged the child, a tired little girl stared back at her; the poor kid had seen things today she never should have.

"I can't, I'm tired."

Alicia was tired as well, her body ached and yet she couldn't find anything more than sadness for the little girl. She was a grown woman, trained soldier and this child barely stood to her waist. "I know, but when we get through the fence we can rest."

At least one of them could, she was going to have a lot of explaining to do. Suddenly the gate began to rise, Alicia pulled the child closer to her, crouching low in the tall grass and brush. A rover approached, Alicia tried to see who it carried; it was Mira and Carter.

They'd come to make their play, and Taylor was going to face them down with his own; soldiers flowed through the gate and took up a formation she had drilled into them. In the darkness she could recognize some, the way they carried themselves, the stance they took; and she would always know the figure that strode through the middle.

She couldn't hear the conversation, but she did know where their resources were pointed. Pulling the child's hand she dragged her around the side, if she was lucky the guards on the towers were manning the sonic cannons in case of predators; the rest of the soldiers were on the gate. Alicia took a chance, and dragged the child around to the side.

It wasn't far, but she didn't want to go too far, she needed to get out to the gate and make sure Taylor didn't give them anything; let alone ammunition. That was her goal, and shoving the child ahead of her she raced for the fence. The child ahead of her finally convinced that there was safety within the colony, the girl was sliding between the base of a post and the beams as she was thrown forward.

Pain exploded in the middle of her back, her face in the dirt; everything blurred. Somehow she knew what it was, knew it enough to try and pick herself up; a sonic rifle. A low setting because she wasn't down for the count, whose she couldn't guess.

She fumbled for her knife, trying to roll over, she couldn't fight with her face in the dirt. Suddenly a knee on her back stilled her, it was not forceful, not meant to hurt her; just keep her down. "Stay down Wash."

The man shifted to the side when she obeyed, the fight was brief as those who had faced the colony fled. Easily outnumbered, they had run back into the jungle, but there were a lot of questions left behind. "Don't give them ammo, don't give them anything."

"Alright, take it easy now. It's over" A familiar voice, she found comforting and an extended hand.

She didn't hesitate to use it to pull herself up, finally meeting her CO's eyes. Alicia felt him looking her over, likely eying up the damage. "Things got a bit complicated."

"I see that Wash, you've been missing for over forty eight. Let's clean you up and debrief." His blue eyes held hers, darker than usual; the opposite of his nearly relaxed posture.

She released his hand and tried to take a step, her knee finally gave out and she was grateful when Taylor caught her before she pitched forward. His arm across her back steadied her, Alicia began to look around. "There was a kid. A little girl, a slasher attacked and she was left…."

"Easy Wash, we've got her. One of the boys knew who she was, it looks like her parents have left with the others. We'll find someone to take her in." Taylor's arm began to guide her, clearly wanting to get her back within the gates.

"Do not make me deal with that hack at the infirmary." She was by no means a doctor but the last time she had gone to the so called doctor in the infirmary she'd ended up with an infection. The man had knit her skin with part of the barb from a slasher tail still embedded.

"You've got what you need in your field kit. The scans can wait until morning." As they entered the gates she got strange looks, Alicia didn't let it bother her; she was too tired and sore for it.

He helped her to her unit and waited in the living room while she showered. This was one of those occasions when she was truly thankful for hot water. Returning to the living room, still sore but clean made a big improvement.

The Commander had made himself at home on her couch, her field kit spread open on the table in front of him. She had discovered wounds she hadn't even known about when her clothes came off and the dirt and grime was washed away.

"Let me." The man insisted when she reached for the disinfectant spray, snatching it away. "Sit down Wash, I will make it an order."

The man picked up a hand held device and flicked a switch, it lit up to signal it was on. He ran it along her neck before taking the disinfectant. "Whose rifle did you back into?"

"Either Mira's or Carter's; not really clear on that." She winced as he traded disinfectant for the solution that would knit her skin back together without strings and leave only a slight bruise. It wasn't the most pleasant sensation. "Who gave me a pulse in the back?"

"Mira. I don't think you trying to cross to the gates during negotiation was in the plan." He had moved on, waiting until she hiked her tank top up to reveal the long shallow cut across her ribs. Alicia had hardly been aware of it, other things had held her focus. "You've done a number on yourself Wash."

"Done worse." Something they both knew to be true.

The lean woman stretched out on the couch was hardly paying attention to him anymore. He had known her for over a decade, he was fully aware that she had been far worse; it didn't make it any easier. And somehow that didn't bother him, because he was exactly the same.

They had both given their lives to the military, taken on the duty of protecting their country and sworn an oath. Lived it with every breath, the fact she used every bit of strength she had to come back reassured him. Nathanial hadn't doubted her loyalty but he had feared what had happened to her.

When the convoy missed its sit rep he had known, with everything that had happened in the past two weeks he knew exactly what it was. That convoy had been heavily loaded with supplies, intended to build a new outpost near the sea. Gear and rations to supply the team for a period of weeks; the work crew had been due to leave first of the week.

With Wash heading it and the majority of unit six on the crew he had hoped it would be set up within the month. It would be the new arrivals' first operation, his lieutenant was the best to break them in. And given the weapons they had uncovered earlier he hadn't felt comfortable to leave the colony for that long.

Somehow as hours turned into a day he began to wonder, the soldier he knew would not turn was out there; likely at their mercy. It ate at him, made forty eight hours stretch on for ages and when they had movement outside the gates tonight Nathanial had been ready for a fight.

There were things in life that happened so often they became a response, one of his had been threatened and what they had worked so hard for betrayed. He was a man of second chances, but not without a fight. When he didn't know what had happened to Lieutenant Washington, whether she was alive or dead, there had been a hard line.

Washington was his right hand, his comrade and his friend, the group that lined in front of the gate could have been gunned down yet it would never have given him answers. Their newest pilgrims' betrayal had made him furious and when the shot had gone off it had nearly been chaos.

The outsiders fled, his soldiers looked for the order to shoot; he looked for who had been shot. The form slumped on ground not far from the stand off; a small figure torn between going back to the downed person and running to the fence. No, tonight would be the pass, because he knew only one person who would try something like that.

It was dangerous, but smart. Just out of the way but close enough to keep an eye on what was happening, had she made it through the fence all she'd have to do would be show herself to the nearest guard and he would have been notified. He had trained her, he knew how she thought, knew how she moved and had moved fast to get to her.

Nathanial Taylor had chosen to let them run this time, they had few weapons and limited supplies; if they threatened the colony again he would reconsider. For now he tended his second. She had been worked over and humping miles through the jungle hadn't done her any good.

He didn't however argue her decision not to go to the infirmary, he really needed to work on getting a decent doctor out here. They had a small crew but their lead, a military doctor was no better than Wash described. To his regret Washington was not the only one to suffer from his carelessness, and while they limited his duties it became difficult to remove him from the infirmary altogether; until they got a replacement.

Most of the military members turned to Wash, and for Washington his skills had to pass. He knew her body was a roadmap of far too many scars, pain he had hoped to escape here. Washington was proof that Terra Nova had a human enemy; and his son their eager assistant.

The future was never certain, but he knew one thing. Terra Nova would survive and if it came down to a war he had the best on his side. Nathanial took the scanner and ran it over the woman one last time, the reading came back clear. Setting the instrument aside he lifted the woman into his arms, stilling her protests and settled her in her bed.

"Debrief in the morning Wash." He reassured her, the time was only a few hours away.

Propriety dictated he leave, it didn't however prevent him posting a guard on her. A young soldier she trusted, a woman she had trained. Ordering it over the com let soldiers know he kept the honor code; let them know their CO was safe.

That didn't mean morning would come quickly though, for him it was another long night with too many questions in his head. The sixth pilgrimage had come through and seemed just like any other. Yet in the back of his mind he had been aware of a threat, ever since he'd been forced to banish his own son he had known a real threat existed.

He had few questions of who they would join now, clearly they had planned to take the supplies and dump off Washington before settling in somewhere. Nathanial figured his son fit into that plan, likely had a part in the arrangements.

Too many of them went into security, they'd trained an entire unit; he'd sent Wash out with them. If he had sent someone else he might be having a very different evening. In the morning he would get a few answers, Wash would have some. Until then he did end of day reports, checked the status of the child and wasted time.

Ignoring Reilly's protests Alicia limped out of her house and headed for the command center. Her pace was nearly pathetic but her leg burned with fire, for now she took the pain; it was a reminder that she was alive. It was a reason to fight, if she'd been a little more careful she wouldn't be hurting this morning.

While that wasn't strictly true and she knew it, it worked well as a motivator. Had she been a little colder she would have avoided the cut and broken ribs on her left side, but she hadn't. She was a soldier, but not a mercenary, not a gun for hire; her honor would not let her leave a child out there. And on the scale of injuries she'd survived a scratch and some broken ribs were tolerable; who knew what that child might do in the future.

Glaring at the steps leading up to the Command Center she put one foot in front of the other and climbed slowly keeping a death grip on the railing. Her knee screamed its protest through her body, it would take too long for that to heal; she took these stairs at a jog countless times a day. The guards on the door moved to help her, holding up a hand she stared them down.

Her men would not see her as weak, she'd worked far too long and hard for that. Humiliating enough that her CO had carried her to bed last night, she trusted that man wouldn't say anything about it given his honor code.

Facing said man she gave him the same glare she'd given everyone this morning. "There was no need to put a guard on my door sir."

"I saw every need, we don't know how many of them are left or what they want." He nodded to a chair and took her elbow; that she didn't argue.

Sitting down eased the pain some, took the pressure off her knee. "Mira's in charge."

"Carter handled the negotiation." He countered.

"Apparently Mira was tracking me, wanted to trade my body for ammo, I wasn't covering my trail; with the kid I left an easy path. Me surviving the ride downhill wasn't in the plan." She had learned long ago that death came closer every day, but every new day was a chance; she didn't pass that up.

"No, but you falling from a rover or being gored by a slasher is a much better negotiation tool if she's coming to me to deal. Handing me a body with a hole in it is going to raise any good will when I know exactly who I sent out with you." The man settled across from her, ready to play with this, it didn't look as though he'd slept.

"Bunch of civilians gathered a few clicks OTG, had a couple rovers." Hadn't had a clue what they were up against, if they had they wouldn't have decided to hang out, instead they would have maintained a guard; not let children play.

"I know, Wash the sixth pilgrimage is gone, just about all of them. Seventy five by this morning's count." He sounded tired and sad, she knew his dream for this place; for this world. She knew this would hit hard, many did not understand the sacrifices a soldier makes; the pieces of themselves they give away to protect their country. This had been the chance to get a little of it back.

"Four I saw dead, one more I'm pretty sure ran into a slasher."

"They'll join Lucas." His voice held dread and she could do little but nod; it had already crossed her mind. "It may be another war."

"Maybe not so soon." She pondered. "The first pilgrimage was all military for a reason, everyone else came to an established site; they have to survive."

"Either way Wash, someone sent them, and will likely send more of them." His jaw set and she hid her smile; they weren't the type to stay down long. "We won't be caught off guard."

"No, we'll be ready sir."

If someone in the future wanted to destroy Terra Nova they had made one mistake, they should never have sent people who wanted a second chance. Certainly not two soldiers who had known far too much war and waste. Neither would give up without a fight.


End file.
